YAMAHA DRUMMERS HELP BRIGHTEN CHICK COREA BIRTHDAY BASH

NEW YORK (December 24, 2001)—From December 4th through 24th, celebrated pianist/composer Chick Corea and a host of friends from his musical past joined him in celebrating his 60th Birthday at the world-famous Blue Note jazz club in New York City. According to Corea, the event was feted as not only a birthday celebration, but also "a celebration of life and inspiration…a truly inspiring and once-in-a-lifetime set of concert performances dedicated to the brave and resilient people of New York City," as almost every participating musician had either grown up and/or gotten their musical start in New York City.

Dave Weckl Keeps the Party Going (Click image for photo gallery)

Among the participants were several Yamaha drummers who were happy to talk about their relationship with Chick and with Yamaha. Roy Haynes made two appearances during the series: The "Now He Sings; Now He Sobs Trio" with bassist Miroslav Vitous; and the "Bud Powell Band" with bassist Christian McBride, saxophonist Joshua Redman, and trumpeter Terrence Blanchard. Members of the "Akoustic Band" reunited during the second week of shows, with a lineup that included bassist John Patitucci, and Dave Weckl on drums. Also during the second week, the "Three Quartets Band" featured saxophonist Mickael Brecker, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Steve Gadd.

"I've worked with Chick off and on since the 1960s," noted Haynes, "…the Stan Getz days. These concerts are our first project in three years, when we did Gary Burton's CD. The cool thing is that Chick and I have different philosophies regarding music, but we always manage to find a ‘common ground.' The same holds true for Yamaha—when creating products, they always manage to find the common ground between the artist's wants and needs."

Weckl noted, "My only regret is that I don't get to gig with Chick enough—this is the first time in about 10 years that we've been able to played together. "I've enjoyed a long musical relationship with Chick, and we've both enjoyed a long professional relationship with Yamaha. They respect the opinion of the player, especially when it comes to equipment design."